Listings worth $200 bn in global IPO pipeline

IPO pipeline grows at the end of 2012 to include 294 companies with combed planned offerings of $200 bn

Planned listings worth $200 bn are currently in the global IPO pipeline as the beginning of 2013 approaches, led by the sale of government-owned assets as states seek to reduce debt, according to Renaissance Capital.

At least 294 companies are preparing to raise cash through IPOs, with Japanese railway and property company Seibu Holdings weighing in as the largest IPO in the pipeline, at an estimated $12.4 bn, says the international IPO research and tracking firm.

The planned Seibu IPO is one of several expected in 2013 by governments seeking to cut debt. Ally Financial, backed by the US government, is seeking to raise as much as $5 bn in an IPO coming into 2013 and Sinopek HK, a refining and petrochemical unit of Chinese state-owned Sinopec, is seeking to raise $1.5 bn in an IPO, Renaissance says.

The IPO market in 2013 should also ‘benefit from corporate spin-offs (carve-outs), and a backlog of private equity and venture capital IPOs,’ says the analysis firm in a year-end review of the global IPO market.

‘Positive returns helped revive global IPO activity at the end of 2012 and should support stronger issuance in 2013 from the large $200 bn global IPO pipeline. Asia’s IPO market experienced a major decline in 2012 as growth concerns and a severe decline in stock market returns led to the shutdown of the typically hyperactive Chinese IPO market.’

Asia was still the largest source of IPOs in the year, followed by North America, where 79 IPOs raised $39.9 bn, according to Renaissance data. Europe came in third place with 15 offerings that raised a combined total of $9.9 bn.

NYSE and NASDAQ were tied for the position of the most popular exchange this year in terms of IPO value, at $19.4 bn in offerings each, says Renaissance, which calculated its figures by looking at IPOs of at least $100 mn in size and excluding closed-end funds and special purpose acquisition vehicles. NASDAQ's total IPO value received a big boost from Facebook's $16 bn listing in May. In terms of the number of IPOs, NYSE hosted 61, while NASDAQ was home to 13.